User blog:Kanthia/Ru's family
(father being the person who raised her, not the strange elf man who apparently parties in meadows) Ru's parents are wizards of minor renown in her hometown. The Kiernan family goes back a few generations, and as such they are somewhat wealthy (not super wealthy, but they have a pretty big home, with a pretty extensive library and the like), though the family had passed its prime. Her father, Joram, married into the family; he's very pleasant but somewhat passive. Her mother, Athena, is more dynamic and active. People used to say that Ru takes after her mother and Fiona takes after her father, until it came out that Ru was a bastard, and then talking about that sort of thing became somewhat taboo. Her mother's familiar is the thrush (the thrush is the symbol of the Kiernan family). As is traditional in the Kiernan family, she specializes in abjuration. Her father had a bonded object, the lucky crystal. He specializes in divination. Traditionally, the Kiernan family has been led by strong women, so Fiona was welcomed to the world with much fanfare and high hopes. Two years later, Athena mysteriously became pregnant. A decision was made to keep the child and pass it as legitimate to add to the Kiernan line, which at that point in time was getting a little thin. Ru was born in early Leafall. Though she was supposed to start learning wizardry at six years old, that plan was put on hold when her background was revealed at a garden party when a patron brushed her hair back, revealing her elven ears. A lot of diplomacy and general shusshing had to be done as a result, and as such Ru was barred from leaving the house grounds and interacting with anyone outside the family. Neither Fiona nor Ru showed any exceptional talent in the direction of wizardry. Fiona was interested in the nearby Church of Sarenrae, while Ru was more interested in sneaking out of the house to go to the local market. On one such trip she met a wizard belonging to a rival family, Norr Lyonus, a boy her age with curly brown hair, freckles, and a sweet, amicable nature. Over time Ru and Norr grew into good friends and playmates, without their parents' knowledge. When Ru was twelve and Fiona was fourteen, Fiona and Norr were betrothed in an attempt to ally the Lyonus and Kiernan houses, and to include an actually talented wizard in their generation. Fiona moved out of the house, leaving Ru on her own with her parents, who treated her with pleasantries and distance. At this point her parents, unable to find her a suitable wizard for a husband, betrothed her to a recently widowed local merchant. This was, for Ru, the last straw. She couldn't handle the thought of living the rest of her life housebound, bearing children for an old man while her sister lived with Norr. So she left, just before Fiona's wedding. Fiona was generally kind to Ru, though she had a tendency to talk down to her as an immature baby sister, which Ru interpreted as condescension. Athena and Joram were kind in their own way, but distant -- overall, Ru felt as though their relationship was extremely awkward. She has some respect for Athena, but has a strong dislike for Joram, whom she has never addressed as anything other than 'her mother's husband'. Her last act before leaving the house was to steal his bonded object. She does occasionally miss Fiona, but harbors no feelings towards her parents. Category:Blog posts Category:Blog posts Category:Backstory